LM1949 Injector Drive Controller

December 14, 2008

LM1949
Injector Drive Controller
General Description Features
The LM1949 linear integrated circuit serves as an excellent ■ Low voltage supply (3V–5.5V)
control of fuel injector drive circuitry in modern automotive ■ 22 mA output drive current
systems. The IC is designed to control an external power NPN
Darlington transistor that drives the high current injector
■ No RFI radiation
solenoid. The current required to open a solenoid is several ■ Adaptable to all injector current levels
times greater than the current necessary to merely hold it ■ Highly accurate operation
open; therefore, the LM1949, by directly sensing the actual ■ TTL/CMOS compatible input logic levels
solenoid current, initially saturates the driver until the “peak”
■ Short circuit protection
injector current is four times that of the idle or “holding” current
(Figure 3–Figure 7). This guarantees opening of the injector. ■ High impedance input
The current is then automatically reduced to the sufficient ■ Externally set holding current, IH
holding level for the duration of the input pulse. In this way, ■ Internally set peak current (4 × IH)
the total power consumed by the system is dramatically re- ■ Externally set time-out
duced. Also, a higher degree of correlation of fuel to the input
voltage pulse (or duty cycle) is achieved, since opening and
■ Can be modified for full switching operation
closing delays of the solenoid will be reduced. ■ Available in plastic 8-pin minDIP
Normally powered from a 5V ± 10% supply, the IC is typically
operable over the entire temperature range (−55°C to +125° Applications
C ambient) with supplies as low as 3 volts. This is particularly ■ Fuel injection
useful under “cold crank” conditions when the battery voltage
■ Throttle body injection
may drop low enough to deregulate the 5-volt power supply.
■ Solenoid controls
The LM1949 is available in the plastic miniDIP, (contact fac-
tory for other package options). ■ Air and fluid valves
■ DC motor drives

Typical Application

506201

FIGURE 1. Typical Application and Test Circuit

© 2008 National Semiconductor Corporation 5062 www.national.com

LM1949
Connection Diagram

506226
Order Number LM1949N
See NS Package Number N08E

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 LM1949
Absolute Maximum Ratings (Note 1) Input Voltage Range −0.3V to VCC
Operating Temperature Range −40°C to +125°C
If Military/Aerospace specified devices are required,
please contact the National Semiconductor Sales Office/ Storage Temperature Range −65°C to +150°C
Distributors for availability and specifications. Junction Temperature 150°C
Lead Temp. (Soldering 10 sec.) 260°C
Supply Voltage 8V
Power Dissipation (Note 2) 1235 mW

Electrical Characteristics
(VCC = 5.5V, VIN = 2.4V, TJ = 25°C, Figure 1, unless otherwise specified.)
Symbol Parameter Conditions Min Typ Max Units
ICC Supply Current
Off VIN = 0V 11 23 mA
Peak Pin 8 = 0V 28 54 mA
Hold Pin 8 Open 16 26 mA
VOH Input On Level VCC = 5.5V 1.4 2.4 V
VCC = 3.0V 1.2 1.6 V
VOL Input Off Level VCC = 5.5V 1.0 1.35 V
VCC = 3.0V 0.7 1.15 V
IB Input Current −25 3 +25 µA
IOP Output Current
Peak Pin 8 = 0V −10 −22 mA
Hold Pin 8 Open −1.5 −5 mA
VS Output Saturation Voltage 10 mA, VIN = 0V 0.2 0.4 V
Sense Input
VP Peak Threshold VCC = 4.75V 350 386 415 mV
VH Hold Reference 88 94 102 mV
t Time-out, t t ÷ RTCT 90 100 110 %

Note 1: Absolute Maximum Ratings indicate limits beyond which damage to the device may occur.
Note 2: For operation in ambient temperatures above 25°C, the device must be derated based on a 150°C maximum junction temperature and a thermal resistance
of 100°C/W junction to ambient.

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LM1949 Typical Performance Characteristics
Output Current vs Supply Current vs
Supply Voltage Supply Voltage

506212 506211

Quiescent Current vs Input Voltage Thresholds

Supply Voltage vs Supply Voltage

506225 506213

Sense Input Peak Voltage Sense Input Hold Voltage

vs Supply Voltage vs Supply Voltage

506214 506215

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 LM1949
Normalized Timer Function Quiescent Supply Current
vs Supply Voltage vs Junction Temperature

506217
506216

Quiescent Supply Current Output Current vs

vs Junction Temperature Junction Temperature

506218 506219

Input Voltage Thresholds Sense Input Peak Voltage

vs Junction Temperature vs Junction Temperature

506220 506204

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LM1949
Sense Input Hold Voltage Normalized Timer Function
vs Junction Temperature vs Junction Temperature

506221 506222

LM1949N Junction
Temperature Rise Above
Ambient vs Supply Voltage

506205

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Typical Circuit Waveforms
FIGURE 2.
Application Hints
The injector driver integrated circuits were designed to be
used in conjunction with an external controller. The LM1949
derives its input signal from either a control oriented proces-
sor (COPS™), microprocessor, or some other system. This
input signal, in the form of a square wave with a variable duty
cycle and/or variable frequency, is applied to Pin 1. In a typical
system, input frequency is proportional to engine RPM. Duty
cycle is proportional to the engine load. The circuits discussed
are suitable for use in either open or closed loop systems. In
closed loop systems, the engine exhaust is monitored and the
air-to-fuel mixture is varied (via the duty cycle) to maintain a
perfect, or stochiometric, ratio.
INJECTORS
Injectors and solenoids are available in a vast array of sizes
and characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to
design a drive system to suit each type of solenoid. The pur-
pose of this section is to enable any system designer to use
and modify the LM1949 and associated circuitry to meet the
system specifications.
Fuel injectors can usually be modeled by a simple RL circuit.
Figure 3 shows such a model for a typical fuel injector. In ac-
tual operation, the value of L1 will depend upon the status of
the solenoid. In other words, L1 will change depending upon
whether the solenoid is open or closed. This effect, if pro-
nounced enough, can be a valuable aid in determining the
current necessary to open a particular type of injector. The
change in inductance manifests itself as a breakpoint in the
initial rise of solenoid current. The waveforms on Page 2 at
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LM1949
506202
the sense input show this occurring at approximately 130 mV.
Thus, the current necessary to overcome the constrictive
forces of that particular injector is 1.3 amperes.
506206
FIGURE 3. Model of a Typical Fuel Injector
PEAK AND HOLD CURRENTS
The peak and hold currents are determined by the value of
the sense resistor RS. The driver IC, when initiated by a logic
1 signal at Pin 1, initially drives Darlington transistor Q1 into
saturation. The injector current will rise exponentially from
zero at a rate dependent upon L1, R1, the battery voltage and
the saturation voltage of Q1. The drop across the sense re-
sistor is created by the solenoid current, and when this drop
reaches the peak threshold level, typically 385 mV, the IC is
tripped from the peak state into the hold state. The IC now
behaves more as an op amp and drives Q1 within a closed
loop system to maintain the hold reference voltage, typically
94 mV, across RS. Once the injector current drops from the
peak level to the hold level, it remains there for the duration
of the input signal at Pin 1. This mode of operation is prefer-
able when working with solenoids, since the current required
to overcome kinetic and constriction forces is often a factor of
four or more times the current necessary to hold the injector
open. By holding the injector current at one fourth of the peak
LM1949 current, power dissipation in the solenoids and Q1 is reduced 2 to Pin 3) allows each design to be tailored for the charac-
by at least the same factor. teristics of the system and/or type of Darlington power device
In the circuit of Figure 1, it was known that the type of injector used. In the vast majority of designs, the value or type of the
shown opens when the current exceeds 1.3 amps and closes compensation capacitor is not critical. Values of 100 pF to 0.1
when the current then falls below 0.3 amps. In order to guar- µF work well with the circuit of Figure 1. The value shown of
antee injector operation over the life and temperature range 0.1 µF (disc) provides a close optimum in choice between
of the system, a peak current of approximately 4 amps was economy, speed, and noise immunity. In some systems, in-
chosen. This led to a value of RS of 0.1Ω. Dividing the peak creased phase and gain margin may be acquired by bypass-
and hold thresholds by this factor gives peak and hold cur- ing the collector of Q1 to ground with an appropriately rated
rents through the solenoid of 3.85 amps and 0.94 amps 0.1 µF capacitor. This is, however, rarely necessary.
respectively.
FLYBACK ZENER
Different types of solenoids may require different values of
The purpose of zener Z1 is twofold. Since the load is inductive,
current. The sense resistor RS may be changed accordingly.
a voltage spike is produced at the collector of Q1 anytime the
An 8-amp peak injector would use RS equal to .05Ω, etc. Note
injector is reduced. This occurs at the peak-to-hold transition,
that for large currents above one amp, IR drops within the
(when the current is reduced to one fourth of its peak value),
component leads or printed circuit board may create substan-
and also at the end of each input pulse, (when the current is
tial errors unless appropriate care is taken. The sense input
reduced to zero). The zener provides a current path for the
and sense ground leads (Pins 4 and 5 respectively), should
inductive kickback, limiting the voltage spike to the zener val-
be Kelvin connected to RS. High current should not be allowed
ue and preventing Q1 from damaging voltage levels. Thus, the
to flow through any part of these traces or connections. An
rated zener voltage at the system peak current must be less
easy solution to this problem on double-sided PC boards
than the guaranteed minimum breakdown of Q1. Also, even
(without plated-through holes) is to have the high current trace
while Z1 is conducting the majority of the injector current dur-
and sense trace attach to the RS lead from opposite sides of
ing the peak-to-hold transition (see Figure 4), Q1 is operating
the board.
at the hold current level. This fact is easily overlooked and, as
TIMER FUNCTION described in the following text, can be corrected if necessary.
The purpose of the timer function is to limit the power dissi- Since the error amplifier in the IC demands 94 mV across
pated by the injector or solenoid under certain conditions. RS, Q1 will be biased to provide exactly that. Thus, the safe
Specifically, when the battery voltage is low due to engine operating area (SOA) of Q1 must include the hold current with
cranking, or just undercharged, there may not be sufficient a V CE of Z1 volts. For systems where this is not desired, the
voltage available for the injector to achieve the peak current. zener anode may be reconnected to the top of RS as shown
In the Figure 2 waveforms under the low battery condition, the in Figure 5. Since the voltage across the sense resistor now
injector current can be seen to be leveling out at 3 amps, or accurately portrays the injector current at all times, the error
1 amp below the normal threshold. Since continuous opera- amplifier keeps Q1 off until the injector current has decayed
tion at 3 amps may overheat the injectors, the timer function to the proper value. The disadvantage of this particular con-
on the IC will force the transition into the hold state after one figuration is that the ungrounded zener is more difficult to heat
time constant (the time constant is equal to RTx CT), or when sink if that becomes necessary.
the voltage on the TIMER pin (Pin 8) is greater than typically The second purpose of Z1 is to provide system transient pro-
VSUPPLY x 63%. The timer is reset at the end of each input tection. Automotive systems are susceptible to a vast array of
pulse. For systems where the timer function is not needed, it voltage transients on the battery line. Though their duration is
can be disabled by grounding the TIMER Pin (Pin 8). For sys- usually only milliseconds long, Q1 could suffer permanent
tems where the initial peak state is not required, (i.e., where damage unless buffered by the injector and Z1. There is one
the solenoid current rises immediately to the hold level), the reason why a zener is preferred over a clamp diode back to
timer can be used to disable the peak function. This is done the battery line, the other reason being long decay times.
by setting the time constant equal to zero, (i.e., CT = 0). Leav-
ing RT in place is recommended. The timer will then complete
its time-out and disable the peak condition before the solenoid
current has had a chance to rise above the hold level.
The actual range of the timer in injection systems will probably
never vary much from the 3.9 milliseconds shown in Figure
1. However, the actual useful range of the timer extends from
microseconds to seconds, depending on the component val-
ues chosen. The useful range of RT is approximately 1k to
240k. The capacitor CT is limited only by stray capacitances
for low values and by leakages for large values.
The timing capacitor is reset (discharged) when the IN pin (Pin
1) is below the VOL(MIN) threshold. The capacitor reset time at
the end of each controller pulse is determined by the supply
voltage and the timing capacitor value. The IC resets the ca-
pacitor to an initial voltage (VBE) by discharging it with a
current of approximately 15 mA. Thus, a 0.1 µF cap is reset
in approximately 25 µs.

COMPENSATION
Compensation of the error amplifier provides stability for the
circuit during the hold state. External compensation (from Pin

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506207
FIGURE 4. Circuit Waveforms
506208
FIGURE 5. Alternate Configuration for Zener Z1
POWER DISSIPATION
The power dissipation of the system shown in Figure 1 is de-
pendent upon several external factors, including the frequen-
cy and duty cycle of the input waveform to Pin 1. Calculations
are made more difficult since there are many discontinuities
and breakpoints in the power waveforms of the various com-
ponents, most notably at the peak-to-hold transition. Some
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LM1949
generalizations can be made for normal operation. For ex-
ample, in a typical cycle of operation, the majority of dissipa-
tion occurs during the hold state. The hold state is usually
much longer than the peak state, and in the peak state nearly
all power is stored as energy in the magnetic field of the in-
jector, later to be dumped mostly through the zener. While this
assumption is less accurate in the case of low battery voltage,
it nevertheless gives an unexpectedly accurate set of approx-
imations for general operation.
The following nomenclature refers to Figure 1. Typical values
are given in parentheses:
RS = Sense Resistor (0, 1Ω)
VH = Sense Input Hold Voltage (.094V)
VP = Sense Input Peak Voltage (.385V)
VZ = Z1 Zener Breakdown Voltage (33V)
VBATT = Battery Voltage (14V)
L1 = Injector Inductance (.002H)
R1 = Injector Resistance (1Ω)
n = Duty Cycle of Input Voltage of Pin 1 (0 to 1)
f = Frequency of Input (10 Hz to 200 Hz)
Q1 Power Dissipation:
SWITCHING INJECTOR DRIVER CIRCUIT
The power dissipation of the system, and especially of Q1, can
be reduced by employing a switching injector driver circuit.
Since the injector load is mainly inductive, transistor Q1 can
be rapidly switched on and off in a manner similar to switching
regulators. The solenoid inductance will naturally integrate
the voltage to produce the required injector current, while the
power consumed by Q1 will be reduced. A note of caution:
The large amplitude switching voltages that are present on
the injector can and do generate a tremendous amount of ra-
dio frequency interference (RFI). Because of this, switching
circuits are not recommended. The extra cost of shielding can
easily exceed the savings of reduced power. In systems
where switching circuits are mandatory, extensive field test-
ing is required to guarantee that RFI cannot create problems
with engine control or entertainment equipment within the
vicinity.
The LM1949 can be easily modified to function as a switcher.
Accomplished with the circuit of Figure 7, the only additional
components required are two external resistors, RA and RB.
Additionally, the zener needs to be reconnected, as shown,
to RS. The amount of ripple on the hold current is easily con-
trolled by the resistor ratio of RA to RB. RB is kept small so that
sense input bias current (typically 0.3 mA) has negligible ef-
LM1949 fect on VH. Duty cycle and frequency of oscillation during the
hold state are dependent on the injector characteristics, RA,
RB, and the zener voltage as shown in the following equa-
tions.
FIGURE 7. Switching Application Circuit
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As shown, the power dissipation by Q1 in this manner is sub-
stantially reduced. Measurements made with a thermocouple
on the bench indicated better than a fourfold reduction in
power in Q1. However, the power dissipation of the zener
(which is independent of the zener voltage chosen) is in-
creased over the circuit of Figure 1.
506209
FIGURE 6. Switching Waveforms
506210
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 Schematic Diagram

11
506203
LM1949 Simplified Internal Schematic

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LM1949
LM1949
Physical Dimensions inches (millimeters) unless otherwise noted

Molded Dual-In-Line Package (N)

Order Number LM1949N
NS Package Number N08E

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 LM1949
Notes

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LM1949 Injector Drive Controller
Notes

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